Sensory Processing Archives

Archive for Sensory Processing

Table Top Sensory!

By zfortadmin

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2022

OT (Occupational Therapy)/Sensory based table top activities for school-aged children

Play is an important aspect to a child’s growth and development. It is a child’s primary occupation to play. The occupations of a person are the meaningful and purposeful activities we participate in during the day. Adults have different occupations than children, but sometimes it is important for everyone to play! A child develops functional skills, motor skills, language skills and interpersonal skills through play. Engaging in different types of activities at home can even help your child develop skills in the classroom. Play helps encourage all areas of development, from cognitive and physical to social and emotional. Some benefits of play are it builds self-esteem and confidence, develops problem-solving skills, encourages new vocabulary usage, teaches children to be alone and independent, allows children to release their emotions and encourages planning and thinking ahead. It can be a great tool for children to connect with their peers and the adults around them. Fine motor development is important for children to develop as well as gross motor development. At a preschool age children are working on both. Gross motor (large muscle groups) development can impact fine motor (small muscle groups). As a child builds stability in their core it allows more control in the hands etc. Since play can be filled with opportunities for development, here are some activities children can play at a table while encouraging fine motor growth and development.

Tape play

Picking at the edges of the tape is a fun way for little hands to develop fine motor dexterity. They are working on a pincer grasp (tip-to-tip pinch of the thumb and index finger)
Playing a word spelling game with boxes made out of tape. Have the child help tear the tape into bits (tripod grasp, working on small motor strength of the hand arches)

Tweezers play

Pick up large or small objects with tweezers. Put things in sand, rice or beans and have children try to tweeze them out. (Tripod grasp, working on separating the two sides of the hand in a small motor task)
Sort pom –poms by color or size with tweezers into cupcake tins, bowls or empty egg cartons. Have the child tweeze a pom- pom from one side of the body to the other. (Tripod grasp, working on crossing mid-line.)

Play dough play

Press thick beads into play dough with the thumb in a bent position. This helps encourage development of an appropriate pencil grasp. (Working on the muscles needed to oppose with an open web space and flex the tip of the thumb.
Using play dough mats or the surface of a table play utilize play dough by pushing, smashing, rolling, and pulling it apart. Make sure the whole arm is involved in manipulating the dough! (Working on finger, shoulder and arm strength that helps support an age appropriate writing grasp.)

Pipe cleaner play

After tying a knot at one end, have the child hold the pipe cleaner with one hand and bead with the other. Using beads with smaller openings will require the child to use more finger strength. Make patterns with colors or shapes for more fun! (Working tip-to-tip pinch of the thumb, index finger and eye/hand coordination. )
Place an upside down colander on the table. Use various sized pipe cleaners to poke through the holes. Make designs and patterns using different colors. Try to get the same pipe cleaner in more than one hole. Add a time challenge for older children to see how many they can place in 30 seconds. (Working on pincer grasp, eye/hand coordination, bilateral coordination and sequencing.)

Water play

Sort water beads by color or size using a spoon or measuring cup. Place water beads in a bin or a sink and have the child scoop and sort into cups or buckets.
Filling up a container with water, have the child use a turkey baster or plastic pipettes to squeeze water in and out.. Add food coloring, sparkles or bath toys for more sensory play. For younger children, use a sponge he or she can squeeze out after dipping it into the water bin. (Tripod grasp, working on pinching and fine motor strength/ coordination.)

Categories : Advice, Parenting, Sensory Processing

Tags : children, Parenting, Sensory Processing

The ‘Senses’ and Skills of Gardening

By zfortadmin

Wednesday, April 27th, 2022

Gardening is a great, enriching activity to perform, especially for children – not just in the summer, but in the fall as well. Children naturally learn and develop novel skills, through the interactions that they have with their environments. Gardening enables children to build upon these skills in a natural environment and it allows them to be exposed to various forms of sensory input.

The Seven Senses

We all are familiar with our five external senses:

Sight (visual)
Smell (olfactory)
Touch (tactile)
Taste (gustatory)
Hearing (auditory)

However, we also have two internal, lesser-known senses:

Vestibular
Proprioception

The Vestibular System is located in our inner ears and is activated when we move our head in space (up/down, side to side, or lateral direction).

The Proprioceptive System is located in the receptors of our muscles and joints, and is activated any time one performs an activity that entails pushing, pulling, or lifting an object (or in other terms “heavy-work” activities). The proprioceptive system also acts as a regulator. When the proprioceptive system is activated it releases a neurotransmitter, serotonin, which is calming to the nervous system. Gardening is an activity that can provide proprioceptive input, by one actively engaging in the performance of heavy-work tasks (i.e. carrying a filled watering can). A child who may experience sensory processing difficulties naturally seeks out this type of input, in order to help them be in a more regulated state.

The ‘Senses’ of Gardening

Stop to smell the flowers. Photo by **Tetyana Kovyrina**

Think about this: Before heading outside, you apply sunscreen (tactile input). When you step outside of your house, you are hit with an array of sensory stimuli (visual, olfactory, auditory, and/or tactile). Initially, you feel the warmth of the sun hitting your face (tactile input). You grab your tools and place them in your wheelbarrow filled with the flowers and herbs you had just recently bought. Then you wheel the wheelbarrow over to your garden (proprioceptive input). You empty out the contents of the wheelbarrow, bend down, and sit on top of your knees (proprioceptive input). Then grab your hand shovel and start digging holes in the soil, looking down at the garden bed below (proprioceptive and vestibular input). As you’re digging, you feel the dirt slightly touch your hands (tactile input). You suddenly hear a bumblebee buzzing past your ear (auditory input). You stand up and look around (up/down and left/right) to see where the bumblebee flew (vestibular input). And to think, this is just the beginning of the sensory input that one may experience while gardening.

No Green Thumb Needed

A green thumb is not needed, but is handy (pun intended). Photo by **Dung Tran**

As mentioned, gardening works on numerous skills, in a fun and interactive manner. Below is a list of skills (not all inclusive) with some examples that one may be working on while engaging in this activity.

FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Fine motor precision – Carefully placing one seed at a time into individual cells of a seed tray.
Bi-manual coordination – Opening up a seed packet – stabilizing the packet with one hand, and utilizing the other to open it.
In-hand manipulation – Placing seeds in the palm of your hand, and manipulating one seed at a time into the pads of the fingers to place into a container (palm to finger translation).
Promotes grasping patterns (i.e. pincer grasp) – Picking up a seed with the thumb and index finger.

GROSS MOTOR SKILLS

Strength
Endurance
Bilateral coordination

DISCRIMINATION SKILLS

Proprioceptive Discrimination (the ability to grade force on an object)
- While removing a plant from a plastic pot, one must grade their force appropriately. Pulling too hard could result in one accidentally removing stems or leaves off of the plant.

Tactile discrimination (the ability to feel an object without relying on the visual system)
- Feeling different sized seeds in the palm of one’s hand, without the need to look.

SEQUENCING SKILLS

MOTOR PLANNING / PRAXIS SKILLS

BODY / SPATIAL AWARENESS

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING SKILLS

AND MORE…

Gardening can also help improve one’s:

patience (delayed gratification),
frustration tolerance,
cognitive flexibility (as one may need to change their original plan), and
social skills (if working with another peer or family member).

Create Your Own ‘Sensory Garden’

A ‘sensory garden’ can incorporate a mix of plants and/or garden décor, to provide one with a unique, sensory experience.

Visual – Utilizing plants with vibrant or different colors, varied heights, or those simply unique in nature, can provide some visual input to one’s garden.
Olfactory – There are an abundance of plants that have scents. Think of herbs that you may use while cooking, like rosemary or basil.
Tactile – Plants with texture – soft, hard, spikey, or bumpy – are a fun way to add tactile input to your garden. Providing different landscape textures (i.e. sand, rocks, or mulch) are another way to provide additional tactile input.
Gustatory – Think of herbs, fruits, or vegetables that you can grow, and eventually eat!
Auditory – Provide your garden with sound by either hanging up a wind chime or perhaps having a water source (like a small fountain).

Have fun, and be creative. There is no right or wrong way when designing your own garden!

————————————————————————————————————

If you or your child has any allergies (i.e. environmental, oils in plants, insect bites, etc.), there are other alternatives that can be performed (i.e. utilizing faux flowers).

Due to these unprecedented times, many local garden centers/nurseries are now offering free contactless delivery or contactless curbside pickup to ensure the safety of their customers.

Categories : Parenting, Sensory Processing

Tags : camp, gardening, kids, Parenting, senses, Sensory Processing

“I’m Bored”

By zfortadmin

Thursday, January 6th, 2022

“I’m Bored”: Down Time and Praxis at Home

Woman in White Long Sleeve Shirt Sitting on Black Chair

As we continue to practice social distancing, we all have a lot more free time on our hands than we are typically used to. While the beginning of quarantine may have been very productive, the motivation for most of us has diminished over the long months. Recently, you may notice that you and your family are having an increasingly difficult time coming up with constructive activities to do and are turning towards technology more and more. This can be particularly true during school breaks that would typically be spent visiting family or traveling, but now are filled with hours of down time. Your children (or spouse) may be coming to you more saying: “I’m bored”, despite having many things to do around the house. This feeling, one we know all too well, can be amplified for children that have difficulty with praxis.

What is Praxis?

Praxis is often associated with motor planning or planning movement, but this is really only the tip of the iceberg. More specifically, praxis is the neurological process where cognition directs motor actions (Ayres, 1985). In other words, praxis is the planning of what to do and how to do it.

Man Wearing Black and White Stripe Shirt Looking at White Printer Papers on the Wall

In practice, praxis is the complex series of events that an individual’s body must execute in order to produce a desired outcome.

First, we must conceive the idea of what to do using ideation (i.e. kicking a soccer ball into the net);
Then, we have to plan how we are going to achieve the desired outcome using motor planning (i.e. giving self a running start and kick with your right foot).
Next, we need to execute the movement correctly in order to be successful (i.e. kick the ball with enough force and good aim);
Lastly, we need to be able to reflect on the feedback from the movement to adapt our actions to increase likelihood of success for the future (i.e. kick the ball harder using a longer running start);

For most people, praxis is a complex process that we take for granted since it occurs mostly automatically. However, for some children, learning novel activities is something that requires extra practice and effort due to a missing piece in the multi-step process. In today’s society where a lot of activities are planned and video games have rigid objectives and processes, praxis can be underdeveloped simply because it has not been practiced! Think of riding a bike; while most people learn this skill at a young age and practice it throughout their lives, there are adults that have never learned how to ride! Similarly with praxis, if we didn’t learn and practice this skill as children, we may not have developed it fully. Either way, working on praxis can help everyone, especially when we think of what to do in down time.

Signs of Praxis Difficulty

If your child is having difficulty with praxis, you may observe:

Difficulty learning new motor skills or requiring more practice time than their peers (i.e. riding a bike, learning a dance, etc.).
Appearing clumsy or uncoordinated.
Unable to follow multi-step directions to complete a physical task (i.e. an obstacle course). This becomes particularly apparent with verbal cues (instead of visually demonstration)
Avoidance of gross motor or novel activities.
Difficulty retrieving the right materials for a play activity.
Appearance of laziness and incomplete work (Caused by not knowing how to start).
Failure to perform movement(s) safely.
Difficulty knowing where their body is in space.
Frequent falling, tripping, or bumping into obstacles.

Praxis Difficulties & Technology Use

Simply put, technology is both a blessing and a curse. Even prior to the pandemic, balancing technology and physical play was a common concern voiced by parents. However, during the pandemic, the world has increased its reliance on technology to include almost all daily functions. From attending remote school to having virtual holiday parties, technology has become one of the only outlets to safely interact with the people around us. With this increased reliance on technology, children and parents are having an increasingly difficult time separating the now blurred boundaries between productive technology use and “down-time” technology use. Video games and YouTube videos are a preferred activity for children with praxis difficulties because it eliminates the need to come up with activities to do independently. Technology use also fulfills our natural need for stimulation and impacts the pleasure systems of the brain by releasing dopamine and can, therefore, become addictive. In addition to making children feel good, it is often used more so as a crutch for children with praxis difficulties due to their difficulty with planning and executing activities. Methods to decrease technology reliance include but are not limited to: setting “tech free” breaks, fostering motivation by including siblings, giving explicit ideas of activities, encouraging outdoor play, and setting expectations for screen time and down time.

Home Praxis Activities

Man in Blue Polo Shirt and Woman in Beige Pants Sitting on Blue and White Mat

Try these activities to try at home to increase praxis skills:

Simon Says
Can help improve ability to spontaneously movement plan and improve body awareness.
Floor is Lava
Can help to improve ideation and problem solving skills determining safe and efficient ways to avoid touching the floor.
Unstable Obstacle Course
Create an obstacle course with unstable surfaces: walking or climbing over unstable surfaces is a great way to increase strength and motor plan unpredictable movements.
Twister
Increase body awareness while building upon the problem solving skills to determine the best way to move your body with obstacles.
Yoga Cards
In addition to the many benefits of yoga, it challenges the ability to process and motor plan actions by giving a visual demonstration of the movement.
Animal Walks
Increase problem solving and ideation naming an animal and having your child act out how the animal would move.
New Card Game
Learn a new card game and teach the family
Heads Up
This is a great way to help your child learn how to describe a particular topic/word
Mix ‘N Match
Give your child 5 items and see how many different ways they can use them! For example play dough, a coin, a string, a cup and a marble!
Charades
Can help improve ideation of desired movement and increase problem solving and processing when conceptualizing the other person’s movement.
DIY
Create your own game! Don’t forget to tag us @SascoRiver in your creations.

Tips for Praxis

Woman Holding A Poster On Proper Hand Washing

Tips for children with praxis difficulties

Use “first, then” language
This helps the child understand what sequence they need to complete the demand. For example, “first have a snack, then start your homework.”
Break instructions into parts
Instead of saying, “go and get your shoes and backpack and go outside”, say “get your shoes”. Once that direction is accomplished, you can continue to the next direction, “get your backpack”, and etc.
Give visual cues
Children with praxis difficulties can rely heavily on their visual system to “mimic” novel motor actions. Giving a visual cue for an action will increase the ease of processing the movement.
Physical cues
Physically guide the child through the action so that they can learn what the movement feels like.
Repetition
Practicing the movement allows for increased success rate and increased confidence.

“I’m Bored”

Adapt to Praxis challenges during long breaks from school with these tips:

Activity Bingo
Use a blank bingo board and put different activities for your child to do in them, you can even have them help you fill it out. You can give a little extra “tech time” or other reward every time they get Bingo!
Make a visual “menu” of activities
Sometimes it is helpful for children to visually “see” options
Make a new game!
Keeping things new and novel can increase motivation to participate, including others can also help. For example, have your child make a scavenger hunt for other family members and then take turns doing the scavenger hunt. The act of making it works on praxis and increases the time engaged!
Have your child “video” their activity to send to family members
While this uses some technology, helping your child feel connected to others while doing a physically engaging activity can be more regulating than simply using technology.
Make a visual schedule
This can help children to visualize when it is time for “tech” and time to engage in other activities. While we typically think of this for scheduling extracurriculars, it can also help to know when it will be time for their “preferred” down time activity is within the house

What is Praxis?

In practice, praxis is the complex series of events that an individual’s body must execute in order to produce a desired outcome.

First, we must conceive the idea of what to do using ideation (i.e. kicking a soccer ball into the net);
Then, we have to plan how we are going to achieve the desired outcome using motor planning (i.e. giving self a running start and kick with your right foot).
Next, we need to execute the movement correctly in order to be successful (i.e. kick the ball with enough force and good aim);
Lastly, we need to be able to reflect on the feedback from the movement to adapt our actions to increase likelihood of success for the future (i.e. kick the ball harder using a longer running start);

Signs of Praxis Difficulty

If your child is having difficulty with praxis, you may observe:

Difficulty learning new motor skills or requiring more practice time than their peers (i.e. riding a bike, learning a dance, etc.).
Appearring clumsy or uncoordinated.
Unable to follow multi-step directions to complete a physical task (i.e. an obstacle course). This becomes particularly apparent with verbal cues (instead of visually demonstration)
Avoidance of gross motor or novel activities.
Difficulty retrieving the right materials for a play activity.
Appearance of laziness and incomplete work (Caused by not knowing how to start).
Failure to perform movement(s) safely.
Difficulty knowing where their body is in space.
Frequent falling, tripping, or bumping into obstacles.

Praxis Difficulties & Technology Use

Home Praxis Activities

Try these activities to try at home to increase praxis skills:

Simon Says
Can help improve ability to spontaneously movement plan and improve body awareness.
Floor is Lava
Can help to improve ideation and problem solving skills determining safe and efficient ways to avoid touching the floor.
Unstable Obstacle Course
Create an obstacle course with unstable surfaces: walking or climbing over unstable surfaces is a great way to increase strength and motor plan unpredictable movements.
Twister
Increase body awareness while building upon the problem solving skills to determine the best way to move your body with obstacles.
Yoga Cards
In addition to the many benefits of yoga, it challenges the ability to process and motor plan actions by giving a visual demonstration of the movement.
Animal Walks
Increase problem solving and ideation naming an animal and having your child act out how the animal would move.
New Card Game
Learn a new card game and teach the family
Heads Up
This is a great way to help your child learn how to describe a particular topic/word
Mix ‘N Match
Give your child 5 items and see how many different ways they can use them! For example play dough, a coin, a string, a cup and a marble!
Charades
Can help improve ideation of desired movement and increase problem solving and processing when conceptualizing the other person’s movement.
DIY
Create your own game! Don’t forget to tag us @SascoRiver in your creations.

Tips for Praxis

Tips for children with praxis difficulties

Use “first, then” language
This helps the child understand what sequence they need to complete the demand. For example, “first have a snack, then start your homework.”
Break instructions into parts
Instead of saying, “go and get your shoes and backpack and go outside”, say “get your shoes”. Once that direction is accomplished, you can continue to the next direction, “get your backpack”, and etc.
Give visual cues
Children with praxis difficulties can rely heavily on their visual system to “mimic” novel motor actions. Giving a visual cue for an action will increase the ease of processing the movement.
Physical cues
Physically guide the child through the action so that they can learn what the movement feels like.
Repetition
Practicing the movement allows for increased success rate and increased confidence.

“I’m Bored”

Adapt to Praxis challenges during long breaks from school with these tips:

Activity Bingo
Use a blank bingo board and put different activities for your child to do in them, you can even have them help you fill it out. You can give a little extra “tech time” or other reward every time they get Bingo!
Make a visual “menu” of activities
Sometimes it is helpful for children to visually “see” options
Make a new game!
Keeping things new and novel can increase motivation to participate, including others can also help. For example, have your child make a scavenger hunt for other family members and then take turns doing the scavenger hunt. The act of making it works on praxis and increases the time engaged!
Have your child “video” their activity to send to family members
While this uses some technology, helping your child feel connected to others while doing a physically engaging activity can be more regulating than simply using technology.
Make a visual schedule
This can help children to visualize when it is time for “tech” and time to engage in other activities. While we typically think of this for scheduling extracurriculars, it can also help to know when it will be time for their “preferred” down time activity is within the house

Benefits of Heavy Work

By zfortadmin

Monday, September 14th, 2020

Think about the feeling that you have after exercising or doing yard work: your body is more awake, you’re aware of all the muscles you were using, and your mood improves. These incredible benefits are produced through the work of proprioceptive input and heavy work!

What is Heavy Work?

group of boys jumping rope — Junge im Park zusammen mit Freunden beim Wettbewerb im Seilspringen im Sommer

Heavy work is defined as any type of activity that pushes or pulls against the body and/or lifting heavy objects or items. This specific type of movement provides proprioceptive input (sensations that underlie body awareness) to the muscles and joints. Like children need food or water to survive, their bodies require sensory input in order to stay focused throughout the day. Every child has unique sensory needs that can be assessed and discovered through clinical observation. Through the combined efforts of professional intervention and sensory tailored activities, the effects can be instantaneous, effective, and, most importantly, fun!

Who can benefit from Heavy Work?

young boy in a ring in the pool — Watch out for pool sharks though (Photo by **VisionPic .net**)

Everyone can benefit from heavy work activities! Especially with the sudden transition to remote learning and social distancing, everyone is spending an increasing amount of time sitting still. Movement is a critical aspect of everyone’s routine that is utilized to increase stimulation, focus, and alertness. Children and adults with sensory processing disorder and other mental health conditions in particular can especially benefit from implementing these types of activities into their daily routine.

Benefits of Heavy Work

group of kids on a trampoline — These are all siblings, I think… (Photo by **Karolina Grabowska**)

There are a multitude of advantages to incorporating heavy work activities into your child’s daily routine. Heavy work can be used to calm a child’s body through organizing and regulating their sensory systems, subsequently reducing their anxiety and stress. Often times, children with sensory processing difficulties don’t know where they are in time or space. This results in children seeking input through crashing into things, typically in an unsafe and uncontrollable manner. Heavy work activities can be utilized to give children the sense of grounding they are searching for and increase their body awareness. Think about how your arms feel after you’re carrying something really heavy. Even after you put the object down, you can still feel the weight; you’re more aware of the muscles in your arms. This results in a residual effect, where given the right amount proprioceptive input, can prevent sensory overload. This can keep a child calm and focused long after the activity is completed. Additionally, heavy work activities will decrease the need to chew in children who self-regulate through chewing on objects such as their shirts or sleeves. Lastly, heavy work releases Serotonin which is the “feel-good” neurotransmitter and is responsible for improving your mood while simultaneously regulating your sensory system.

Examples of Heavy Work activities:

Swimming;
Monkey bars;
Wall push ups;
Push ups;
Tug of war;
Chewing crunchy/chewy foods;
Jumping on a trampoline;
Jump rope;
Doing chores;
Wheelbarrow walking;
Crab walking

Tips & Tricks

Finding the “just right challenge”! The goal of the “just right challenge” is choose activities for your child that is neither too easy nor too hard. The purpose of these activities is to empower, motivate, and challenge your child.
Make the activity functional and enjoyable! It can be difficult to engage a child in an activity if it is simply carrying something heavy. Give your activity purpose! For example, have your child help out with the gardening by carrying items over to you.
Don’t use these activities as punishment! Although heavy work activities can be calming for some children, it is important to not have your child associate regulating activities with negative reinforcement. It’s not their fault that they do not know how to accurately regulate their bodies.
Have your child complete heavy work activities prior to remote learning! This will increase your child’s arousal and help their bodies stay regulated and organized while sitting still, even for long periods of time.
Heavy work activities affect everyone differently! It is imperative that an adult closely watches the child’s reaction to these types of activities. As always, consult your Occupational Therapist if you have any questions about what you observed!
HAVE FUN! (:

Want to know more?

Email us at hello@sascoriver.com with your question!

Categories : Advice, News, Parenting, Sensory Processing

Tags : advice, EXERCISE, HEAVY WORK, OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY, Sensory Processing

The ‘Senses’ and Skills of Gardening

By zfortadmin

Thursday, August 27th, 2020

young girl watering plants — Gardening is fun! Photo by **Maggie**

The Seven Senses

We all are familiar with our five external senses:

Sight (visual)
Smell (olfactory)
Touch (tactile)
Taste (gustatory)
Hearing (auditory)

However, we also have two internal, lesser-known senses:

Vestibular
Proprioception

The Vestibular System is located in our inner ears and is activated when we move our head in space (up/down, side to side, or lateral direction).

The ‘Senses’ of Gardening

No Green Thumb Needed

FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Fine motor precision – Carefully placing one seed at a time into individual cells of a seed tray.
Bi-manual coordination – Opening up a seed packet – stabilizing the packet with one hand, and utilizing the other to open it.
In-hand manipulation – Placing seeds in the palm of your hand, and manipulating one seed at a time into the pads of the fingers to place into a container (palm to finger translation).
Promotes grasping patterns (i.e. pincer grasp) – Picking up a seed with the thumb and index finger.

GROSS MOTOR SKILLS

Strength
Endurance
Bilateral coordination

DISCRIMINATION SKILLS

Proprioceptive Discrimination (the ability to grade force on an object)
- While removing a plant from a plastic pot, one must grade their force appropriately. Pulling too hard could result in one accidentally removing stems or leaves off of the plant.

Tactile discrimination (the ability to feel an object without relying on the visual system)
- Feeling different sized seeds in the palm of one’s hand, without the need to look.

SEQUENCING SKILLS

MOTOR PLANNING / PRAXIS SKILLS

BODY / SPATIAL AWARENESS

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING SKILLS

AND MORE…

Gardening can also help improve one’s:

patience (delayed gratification),
frustration tolerance,
cognitive flexibility (as one may need to change their original plan), and
social skills (if working with another peer or family member).

Create Your Own ‘Sensory Garden’

A ‘sensory garden’ can incorporate a mix of plants and/or garden décor, to provide one with a unique, sensory experience.

Visual – Utilizing plants with vibrant or different colors, varied heights, or those simply unique in nature, can provide some visual input to one’s garden.
Olfactory – There are an abundance of plants that have scents. Think of herbs that you may use while cooking, like rosemary or basil.
Tactile – Plants with texture – soft, hard, spikey, or bumpy – are a fun way to add tactile input to your garden. Providing different landscape textures (i.e. sand, rocks, or mulch) are another way to provide additional tactile input.
Gustatory – Think of herbs, fruits, or vegetables that you can grow, and eventually eat!
Auditory – Provide your garden with sound by either hanging up a wind chime or perhaps having a water source (like a small fountain).

Have fun, and be creative. There is no right or wrong way when designing your own garden!

————————————————————————————————————

If you or your child has any allergies (i.e. environmental, oils in plants, insect bites, etc.), there are other alternatives that can be performed (i.e. utilizing faux flowers).

Due to these unprecedented times, many local garden centers/nurseries are now offering free contactless delivery or contactless curbside pickup to ensure the safety of their customers.

Categories : Parenting, Sensory Processing

Tags : camp, gardening, kids, Parenting, senses, Sensory Processing

Behind the Mask

By zfortadmin

Monday, August 10th, 2020

Getting Used to Masks: Strategies for Tolerating Face Coverings

Is your child struggling to tolerate a face mask? Does the mask end up on the floor instead of their face? Well, looks like they’re here to stay so hopefully we can help them get used to masks

Child wearing Mask — You can’t see it, but I’m smiling. Photo by **Janko Ferlic**

After months stuck at home, wearing a face mask will help to reopen your child’s world. They will be able to safely engage during play dates, participate in camp activities, or visit family members they haven’t seen in a while. In fact, tolerating a mask either has or may become a daily demand as face coverings are now required to go to the dentist, return to school, or shop in a store. For many children, however, this new mask requirement can feel overwhelming, anxiety-inducing, or sensory overloading. The ability to wear a mask for longer than a few minutes may take time, patience, and practice. Remember to frame the mask experience positively. Be mindful of how you, as parents, talk about your own mask wearing experience. This is a difficult time for all of us. Empower your children to feel in control of their health and safety by wearing a mask.

Masks: Sensory Overload

Masks cause light touch sensations behind the ears, across the nose, over the mouth, and just below the jawline. Many of these areas of the face and neck are very sensitive to tactile input and, in general, light touch input is more alerting than firm touch input. At first, wearing a mask may make your child feel more on edge or alert.

The tactile sensation of the mask may not be the only input alerting your child. Their auditory system is also working harder to interpret garbled verbal communication. They are most likely struggling to interpret body language without the nonverbal cues we can usually read on someone’s face. These factors can all contribute to sensory overload.

Fortunately, there are several strategies you can utilize to increase your child’s tolerance level for wearing masks.

Incorporate Calming Inputs

When practicing wearing a mask, pair the experience with calming deep pressure and weight bearing inputs. A weighted blanket, yoga poses, or gentle squeezes up the arms may help to offset that light touch alerting response.

Getting used to it: Feel and Fit

Many of your child’s preferred clothing brands have released their own lines of masks which can be a great place to start your search! Consider the different textiles used to make masks: cotton, nylon, polyester, spandex, etc. Take fabric scraps or clothing materials and have your child explore the different types against their cheek. Ask them which one feels the best.

Consider the type of mask. Does your child tolerate a mask with elastic that goes behind the ears? If not, perhaps a mask that ties around the head or has adjustable ear loops would be more comfortable. Maybe your child does not tolerate the metal wire that sits along the nose. Explore wire-free masks whose shape and flexibility still provide that contoured fit.

Get creative!

Repurpose their favorite shirt they’ve outgrown and turn it into a mask. There are tutorials available online to help create a mask that is the right size and fit.

Have a Fashion Show

Together, try out a few different masks! Let your child pick their favorite one based on comfort and appearance. Whatever type of mask they choose, pick a fun way to describe face coverings like “ninja” or “superhero” masks. This has the added benefit of giving your child additional practice wearing masks.

What Did You Say?

Masks can affect speech, making language sound more muffled or muted. Hearing the difference between similar sounds (think a “p” and a “b”) can be harder when speaking through masks. This can be challenging and frustrating. Sensory overload can affect your child’s listening skills, emotional regulation, and frustration tolerance. When giving them verbal directions through your mask, speak slowly and check for comprehension periodically. Use visual cues and exaggerated body language to help get your point across.

Mask Game Night

Hold a masked family board game, trivia, or karaoke night. The interaction necessary for these games will allow your child to practice communicating with this new obstacle in a low stakes environment. The whole family can practice tolerating, speaking, and listening together!

Funny Faces Game

Masks can significantly impact our ability to read facial expressions or recognize even a familiar face. This can feel unsettling. For a child who struggles socially, masks can make it even harder to pick on on social cues.

Play a facial expression game with family members. When you are all wearing masks, have your child try to guess if you are making a happy, sad, silly, or surprised face. This will help your child to learn to rely on other parts of the face and body in order to pick up on others’ feelings.

Don’t Forget: Take a Moment to Breathe

At first, the new experience of a mask may lead to increased feelings of anxiety. While wearing a mask, remind your child every half hour to take 5 deep belly breaths. Have them place their hand on their belly to feel their belly rise and fall.

Get used to Masks: Small Steps Lead to Big Changes

Some children may have to begin by touching the mask to their nose or giving it a kiss. From there, trial wearing a mask for just a few minutes at a time while doing a preferred activity. Build stamina by wearing it at home before branching out slowly to familiar places. Just like other sensory work, this will take time. Remember that every time we wear a mask we are working towards a future where we will no longer have to!

Remember, if you or your child have sensory issues, we can help. We are the area’s leading practitioner. Head over to our Intake tab to get started!

Reference:https://paautism.org/resource/desensitization-mask-communication/

Categories : Advice, Parenting, Sensory Processing

Tags : masks, Parenting, Sensory Processing

6 Signs of Sensory Processing Difficulties

By zfortadmin

Wednesday, May 6th, 2020

Often when we think of signs of sensory processing challenges, we picture children distressed by clothing tags or covering their ears at birthday parties. While this is a very real possibility, in actuality, there are thousands of sensory processing profiles that may not always look overtly “sensory.” For instance, both poor coordination and picky eating are presentations of sensory processing challenges that may be harder to identify. For this reason, sensory processing difficulties can go undetected, be mistaken for quirks, or even be mislabeled as behavioral issues.

With such a wide spectrum of presentations, how can you tell if your child has sensory processing challenges? Well, there are some tell-tale markers. Here are 6 signs of sensory processing difficulties that are common across all sensory profiles:

1. Tendency to fidget

person playing with a fidget — (Photo by **Retha Ferguson**)

Does it feel like your child can’t sit still? Do they frequently kick their legs against the chair, tap their hands on the table, or get up from their seat? Fidgeting can be a telltale sign of sensory processing challenges.

Balance and body awareness are sensory functions. The vestibular system controls your balance and movement and your proprioceptive system is responsible for body scheme and awareness. When one or both of these systems are not working as they should, your child has to fidget in order to provide himself with more feedback about where his body is in space.

2. Trouble focusing

group of kids playing an app on a tablet — (Photo by **Harrison Haines**)

Is your child in need of frequent redirection? Do they have difficulty tuning into your verbal cues or get visually distracted? Does your child rush through homework or skip over words when reading? Trouble focusing can often indicate sensory processing difficulties.

Our vestibular system is linked to attention and alertness. It works in tandem with the proprioceptive, visual, and auditory systems, helping us tune into the task at hand and tune out distractors. When there is a breakdown in one or more of these systems, attention and focus will become more laborious.

3. Resistant to change

time for change image — (Photo by **Alexas Fotos**)

Does your child respond strongly to even minor changes? Are they particular about food brands or clothing materials? Are they rigid in their routines and dislike to deviate from their norm? Discomfort with change can signal issues with sensory processing.

Humans are creatures of habit, but we should be able to adapt to changes in our routine without becoming overwhelmed. Children with sensory processing challenges tend to strongly prefer familiar experiences as they foster a sense of control.

4. Cognitive drain

young girl resting her head on a post — (Photo by **Matheus Bertelli**)

Does your child appear on edge, overtired, or just mentally exhausted? Do they seem to tune you out or seem absent during dinner conversations? Does the quality of their schoolwork show a steep decline as the day goes on? Fatigue that comes on quickly or zoning out can be symptoms of a sensory processing disorder.

Sensory kids are often working extra hard to get through life’s daily demands as they are using more cognitive effort to perform tasks that come more automatically to others. Their brains frequently operate in overdrive to process their surroundings and make sense of the world around them.

5. Meltdowns

young child resisting a meltdown — (Photo by **Alexander Dummer**)

Is your child prone to meltdowns or tantrums? Do you see a large response to a seemingly small problem? Does it sometimes feel as though they have to melt down in order to feel better? While this may often be viewed as negative behaviors, they can point to sensory processing issues.

Explosive behaviors like crashing, kicking, and hitting can be signals that your child is seeking more proprioceptive feedback. Children often find these types of behaviors give their body the release they are craving.

6. Struggles with sleep

young kid struggling to sleep — (Photo by **Tatiana Syrikova**)

Is your child waking up frequently throughout the night or having trouble falling asleep? Do they seek heavy blankets or need to be wrapped tightly in order to fall asleep? Does your child experience hunger, thirst, or the need to use the bathroom throughout the night to the degree it disturbs their rest? Frequent disruptions to a full night’s sleep may be due to struggles with sensory processing.

Quieting our brains and bodies requires far more coordination of our sensory systems than most of us realize. Furthermore, poor quality sleep can impact your child’s mood and regulation, making them even more susceptible to becoming overwhelmed by their sensory processing challenges throughout the day.

Do you spot any of these Signs of Sensory Processing difficulties in your child? Are any of these signs surprising to you? Let us know via hello@sascoriver.com, or in the comments below.

Categories : Advice, Parenting, Sensory Processing

Tags : change, meltdown, OT, Parenting, Sensory Processing, sleep

When It Rains, It Pours

By zfortadmin

Friday, April 24th, 2020

Understanding Sensory Processing

Sensory information can be powerful:

A familiar scent can trigger memories;
A puppy’s kisses can spark laughter and a smile;
A hug from a parent can halt crying after a skinned knee;
Sounds of sirens alert us to danger, igniting panic or valiant action.

How does the outside world enter our brain and get understood? How do we process sensory information?

We experience the world through our senses

When our sensory systems functioning properly, the information comes from the outside world though our sensory systems, through our nervous system, and into our brain.

There are actually seven sensory systems. Five of them we are familiar with: touch, smell, hearing, taste, and sight. But there are (at least!) two lesser-known systems that are important as we interact with our environment.

The Vestibular system is located in the inner ear and is responsible for maintaining balance, coordinating movements, and sensing motion and gravity. This system comes into play with activities like riding a bike.

The Proprioceptive system provides feedback to our muscles and joints about how much or how little force is needed. This system helps you pour a cup of milk without spilling.

Intact sensory processing involves the ability to take in sensory experiences, prioritize them, and then use that information to successfully learn, socialize, and engage in daily routines.

What happens when our sensory systems are not working as they should?

When our sensory systems aren’t working the way they should, it can be overwhelming. Here is a simple exercise to help explain what sensory processing disorder might feel like:

Picture yourself driving in your car;
listening to your child’s favorite Disney soundtrack;
carrying on a conversation with your spouse;
while the GPS reroutes you through an unfamiliar area;
glancing in the rear-view mirror;
changing lanes on the highway;
it begins to pour;
the windshield is fogging;
and….
you realize you just missed your exit.

We’ve all been there on occasion, right? That feeling of driving through a thunderstorm. Now imagine if that stress, panic, and tension existed for each and every drive, or even for each and every minute of your day. For many kids with sensory processing challenges, this is their “normal”.

Understanding Sensory Processing in Children

Sensory processing difficulties can involve just one sensory system or span across several systems. When we talk about sensory processing in children, we have to remember that they often do not have the tools, the words, or the perspective to be able to verbalize how sensory experiences make them feel. It can often take some detective work from both the parents and the occupational therapist to identify where the sensory breakdown is occurring.

Does your child interpret some sensory stimuli too strongly? Maybe he perceives the sound of the dishwasher as unpleasant when doing homework in the kitchen or becomes distressed when playing in the sand. Does your child seem to miss some sensory stimuli altogether? Maybe you have to say her name several times to get her attention or she appears not to notice crumbs on her face while eating dinner. Are there times when your child seems to be unaware of his body, accident-prone, or clumsy? Maybe he frequently trips on the sidewalk or plays too roughly with his siblings.

As we start to layer on our current climate (global pandemic), new demands (distance learning anyone?), and less structure (no more after-school activities), the more you may see ways sensory processing impacts your child. That is one downside of our current reality. The upside is we now have the time and space to more closely observe how children react to sensory experiences. We can use the resources of our homes and the flexibility of our schedules to isolate and identify the triggers for our children. We can carefully construct an environment to support them.

Through thoughtful observation and consideration, we can help them, and lead them out of this thunderstorm.

If you want to learn more about Sensory Processing Disorder, please email us. We are always happy to help in any way we can.

Categories : Advice, Parenting

Tags : Sensory Processing, Seven Senses, SPD

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Wilton CT 06897

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Archive for: Sensory Processing

Archive for Sensory Processing

OT (Occupational Therapy)/Sensory based table top activities for school-aged children

Tape play

Tweezers play

Play dough play

Pipe cleaner play

Water play

The Seven Senses

The ‘Senses’ of Gardening

No Green Thumb Needed

Create Your Own ‘Sensory Garden’

“I’m Bored”: Down Time and Praxis at Home

What is Praxis?

Signs of Praxis Difficulty

Praxis Difficulties & Technology Use

Home Praxis Activities

Tips for Praxis

“I’m Bored”

Further Reading

“I’m Bored”: Down Time and Praxis at Home

What is Praxis?

Signs of Praxis Difficulty

Praxis Difficulties & Technology Use

Home Praxis Activities

Tips for Praxis

“I’m Bored”

Further Reading

What is Heavy Work?

Who can benefit from Heavy Work?

Benefits of Heavy Work

Tips & Tricks

Want to know more?

The Seven Senses

The ‘Senses’ of Gardening

No Green Thumb Needed

Create Your Own ‘Sensory Garden’

Masks: Sensory Overload

Incorporate Calming Inputs

Getting used to it: Feel and Fit

Get creative!

Have a Fashion Show

What Did You Say?

Mask Game Night

Funny Faces Game

Don’t Forget: Take a Moment to Breathe

Get used to Masks: Small Steps Lead to Big Changes

1. Tendency to fidget

2. Trouble focusing

3. Resistant to change

4. Cognitive drain

5. Meltdowns

6. Struggles with sleep

Understanding Sensory Processing

We experience the world through our senses

What happens when our sensory systems are not working as they should?

Understanding Sensory Processing in Children

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